The cooking class that I’m teaching at Mills College started today. I devoted the first class to tasting different salts, sugars, vanilla’s, and butters. I wanted everyone to get an overview of the variation of flavors in these products so they can see how these differences can enhance their end product and hopefully [...]
I decided to reconstruct a coconut. There was a trend a few years back about creating deconstructed desserts. German Chocolate Cake would come as a wedge of chocolate cake with a pitcher of ganache and a wall of candied pecans or some such stuff! With this recipe I decided to take all the components [...]
Nothing seems to shoot me back to being a kid more than a nice big freshly baked chocolate chip cookie. Still warm from the oven with the chocolate chips still melted and dotting my fingers with warm chocolate the follow up unmistakable flavor of good quality butter and the almost caramelized hint of the [...]
My mom was a great baker. I cherish her spiral notebook with her handwritten Greek recipes and her notes in the margin like “add more butter” or “Mrs. Olga’s recipe”. Mom had several signature recipes, she was known for her Galactobouriko (filo custard pie), Paximathia (Greek biscotti) and Kalouria. Kalouria are a very simple [...]
There’s a Greek cookie I love called Melomakarona. For reasons I’m sure you can all figure out, I have a heck of a time pronouncing it! Every time I try to order one at a Greek festival I either point, or start the word and stumble on the ending with the hopes that the [...]
I’m not entirely sure what first peaked my interest. I get so many online food blogs and newsletters that I honestly can’t say I know what first brought the concept of chocolate truffles made with olive oil before my eyes, but the thought captivated me. A sort of ganache made with olive oil and [...]
